A Realization
by scarlettmarch
Summary: (Complete) Literati. Rory's in Washington, writing to Jess. FINAL CHAPTER UP! Review!
1. A Realization

Author: Scarlettmarch

Setting: Rory's in Washington, D.C., writing letters to Jess.

Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girls.

**A Realization**

Rory turned her head to the side and saw Paris's sleeping form and the digital clock in the shape of a cow with big, red numbers on the cow's stomach that told her that it was too late to be last night and too early to be this morning, but the perfect time to be feeling like the loneliest person living. 

And a perfect time to be pouring out her heart on paper.

She walked over to the closet and carefully, so as not to drop anything and wake Paris, took out a box from under a heavy stack of library books. She lifted off the cover of the box, which she had neatly covered in words and pictures that she had cut out from magazines when she was ten years old, and was faced with a stack of papers that all had the same thing written in the top left corner. 

_Dear Jess,_

That was it; no more words covered the page. It could be inferred by an observer that the author of these unfinished letters either had a severe case of writer's block or just didn't know what to say to "Jess." 

In reality, the sheets of stationery were barren because the writer didn't want to write the words that seemed to spring to mind whenever she wrote his name, and was incapable of writing any other words, words that would have been lies. 

So, at this time every day, Rory crept out of her tiny dormitory bed and got out her stationery box, and began letter upon letter to Jess, the sullen, unhappy boy who she had kissed and left. And then, after she had written _Dear Jess, _a million times at the top of a million different sheets of paper, she crept back into bed and went to sleep in preparation for the day to come, which would consist of her being tormented by thoughts of his smile, his eyes, and the memory of his lips upon hers. 

Consumed by an unusual restlessness, the girl grabbed a heavy sweatshirt and quietly tiptoed out of the room and gently closed the door. She seemed surprised at her own actions, sneaking out of the house, or, in this case, a dormitory, was not something that she had ever done or had ever wanted to do before. 

She walked to the park and rambled along the path, seemingly alone in this entire expanse of green grass and trees, lit by the softly glowing lanterns hanging at the top of the poles which punctuated every corner and turn of the path. 

Under one of the lampposts, Rory saw a bench occupied by a person, or maybe two. As she neared, she realized that it was a girl propped up by the wooden arm at one end of the bench, and in her lap laid the head of a boy who sprawled out across the remainder of the bench. The girl slowly ran her fingers through the boy's hair and gazed at the boy's open eyes. Both seemed to be caught in a trance, and Rory wondered if they even realized what time it was.

Rory started to run, which was something that she hadn't done since that fateful day in June when she had kissed Jess. She realized that she wanted what that couple had, wanted to be in love. Suddenly, she remembered Dean, Dean who loved her and thought that she and he had what that couple in the park had. And maybe, once upon a time, they did have that, but when she never looked into his eyes like that girl; no, Rory always seemed to be looking through him as though he were transparent and someone else was standing in back of him. 

And Rory realized that that person standing in back of him was Jess.

So she ran, ran back to her tiny desk upon which laid the open stationery box, and pulled out a clean sheet of paper. She began just as she had all the other nights this summer,

_Dear Jess,_

But this time, she continued.

*I hoped you like my story, which brings me to the life lesson that I just learned:

When you love somebody, tell them before it's too late.

Until next time,

Gabrielle


	2. Signed, Sealed, DeliveredI'm Yours

Author: Scarlettmarch

Title: A Realization

Disclaimer: I'm not in any way connected with the production of Gilmore Girls

A/N: Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed! Since you were all so encouraging, I've decided to continue this story. Please review again! (The chapter title is the title of a Stevie Wonder song)

**Signed, Sealed, Delivered…I'm Yours**

Rory didn't need to search for the words to express her feelings towards Jess. They flowed from her pen as if they had been hidden in there, just waiting to come out all along. She didn't even realize what she was writing until she read it over, and then, she was shocked at how true it all was, how nothing could possibly be truer. 

_Dear Jess,_

_I'm so sorry for what happened at Sookie's wedding. I was just shocked that you had come home and I don't know what possessed me to kiss you. _

_Well, actually, I do know what possessed me. You came to Stars Hollow, and you were unlike anybody I'd ever met._

_You wrote in the margins of great books, you jumped in my sleigh, and you brought over a care package when I was alone. Then, the accident happened, and I thought I'd never see you again._

_But I skipped school to come visit you in __New York__, something I would never have done before you came and changed everything. And it was one of the best days of my life, even though I missed my mom's graduation and all that. _

_You came to Sookie's wedding and something courageous inside of me grabbed you and kissed you. It felt so right to me._

_But then, I realized what I was doing, and I remembered Dean, and I ran because I was scared of what was happening. I was throwing away everything I had with nice, sweet Dean for you, who probably didn't even think of me in that way._

_I ran away to __Washington__, __D.C._, and away from everyone else I've been able to think about what happened and what my true feelings are. __

_I've lived my entire life in a small town, sheltered from everything in bad in this world, everything that you probably grew up with. I've never had to make any difficult decisions, and writing this letter is probably the one brave thing I've ever done, aside from kissing you._

_ I think that if I never told you that I like you, maybe even love you, that I might regret it for the rest of my life. So, there it is. I love you._

_Please write back to me if you feel the same._

_-Rory_

She folded the letter twice, and slipped it neatly into the bland, white envelope. She wrote the address of the diner and then wrote her Washington address in the top right corner. However, Rory didn't put her name above her address, just in case Miss Patty or Babette were to see it. There was no sense in getting the rumor mill worked up when she wasn't home to clarify everything.

Knowing that she might of well as stuck her entire heart in the envelope along with the letter, it took Rory a few minutes of pacing in front of the obnoxiously bright blue mailbox before she finally opened the slot and watched the letter fall on top of a million others.

Then, she went to bed, feeling liberated from the constraints of living a lie. She would figure out what to do with Dean another day.

Two days later, Luke carelessly handed Jess the letter. Just as he was about to open it, Kirk stormed up to the counter of the diner.

Jess stared at him, waiting for the visibly flustered man to speak. When he did, it looked like it was causing him great pain.

In a forced whisper, he said, "There is a fly in my drink."

"So?" Jess replied, not even bothering to try to care.

Kirk lost it, screaming, "So?!!" and then threw the glass of water at Jess's chest.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Jess screamed back, annoyed. 

Kirk stomped out of the diner, but not before proclaiming that he will never again patronize an establishment that serves food with a side of dead insects. 

Jess headed upstairs to change his dripping shirt, still grasping the partly opened envelope in his hand. As he ripped off his shirt, he realized that the letter was in his grasp, and examined the envelope, noticing that it most of it was as wet as his shirt. From the post address and the slanting cursive handwriting, he deduced that the letter was from Rory.

Taking a deep breath, he opened up the envelope quickly, took out the letter, and began to read.

_Dear Jess,_

_I'm so sorry for what happened at Sookie's wedding. I was just shocked that you had come home and I don't know what possessed me to kiss you._

The rest of the letter was illegible. The blue ink had smeared all over the place. Jess realized that it had stained his fingertips, and he silently cursed Kirk before rereading what Rory had written. 

He leaned back onto his bed, his bare skin touching the soft navy-blue comforter.

He reread and reread those two short sentences before they became as blurred as the rest due to the tears that were multiplying rapidly in his eyes. He let out the deep breath that he realized he had been holding in and spoke, to no one in particular, 

"Well, the rest couldn't have been any good news, anyways."

He laughed bitterly and lay there, staring at the ceiling, letting the tears slowly roll out the corners of his eyes.

  
  


*Hoped you all liked my second chapter! Please make my day and REVIEW!


	3. Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain

Author: Scarlettmarch

Title: A Realization

Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girls, nor the chapter title, which is the name of a Willie Nelson song.

A/N: Thanks so much for all the positive reviews and helpful comments! Reading them make my day, and make me want to update as soon as possible. ; ) 

**Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain**

Jess grabbed his worn copy of A Separate Peace off the top of his dresser and headed out of the diner, ignoring Luke's reminder that he was taking the late shift tonight. Taking the book out of the back pockets of his faded jeans, he began reading and walking at the same time, moving in the general direction of the gazebo.

Suddenly, Jess hit the hard pavement and heard something that was unmistakably the sound of glass shattering. As Jess started to stand up, he noticed the blonde girl opposite him on the sidewalk. He grabbed her hand and helped her up, noticing the brown paper bags with the words _Doose's_ in blue lettering in disarray all over the ground. 

"What's your name?" the blonde asked, cracking her gum loudly at the end of the sentence and twirling her hair around her finger, an obvious attempt at flirting.

He looked her up and down, and noticed with slight satisfaction how tightly her clothes hugged her curvy body, and, being a guy, her breasts, which were spilling out of her tiny black tube top. 

She was nothing like Rory; if he were to picture the complete antithesis of innocent and naïve, it would be this girl.

"Jess," he answered quickly and offered to repay her for her damaged groceries. 

"How 'bout we go get something to eat, and you can tell me a little more about yourself, Jess," the blonde replied in a voice that rivaled Marilyn Monroe's when singing Happy Birthday to the president. 

"Alright," Jess agreed, and they walked off, leaving the groceries lying on the grey pavement, to the indignation of Taylor later that day.

In less than thirty minutes, having foregone the food and traveled instead to the girl's house, Jess was sliding off the blonde's top as she purred beneath him, his body pressing her into the couch, which was badly in need of a reupholstering. 

Jess roughly pulled up his pants, having noticed the western part of the sky had turned a brilliant shade of magenta. He let himself out of the house, despite the girl's attempts at seduction, and walked quickly towards the diner, thoroughly disgusted with the world in general and himself in particular. And only as he turned on the coffee machine did he realize he never even learned the blonde's name.

Rory, highly uncomfortable in the tiny airplane seat, squirmed about and adjusted the seat back, the armrest, and her carry-on luggage multiple times before settling into one position.

Her seat neighbor, a suspicious looking man with scruffy blonde hair and a braided beard had stolen her CosmoGIRL! magazine from the seat pocket in front of her, and she was too embarrassed to tell him that it wasn't one of those magazines that the airline puts out for you to read. He kept on going to the bathroom every five minutes, and Rory was sure that he was going to bomb the plane or something like that during one of his little visits to the toilet.

Usually, Rory wouldn't have been this suspicious or wasted time coming up with a conspiracy theory, but doing so kept her from the alternative, which was agonizing over why Jess hadn't written back to her.

Even so, her mind turned to Jess before the hostess had served drinks. Optimistically coming to the conclusion that the U.S. Postal Service had lost Jess's letter to her, she decided to think of it no more, and grabbed her CosmoGIRL! from the braided beard man's empty seat (he was once again in the bathroom). She then transferred herself into an empty seat a few rows ahead. And with that, she lost herself in the complex mystery of blue versus black eyeliner until the plane had landed.

Lorelai, ecstatic at having her daughter home after their longest separation to date, dragged her off to the town's summer carnival so that she could see everyone. Grey clouds were beginning to accumulate in the darkening sky, and practically everyone had gone for refuge from the impending storm in Luke's Diner. As Lorelai began lecturing Luke on coffee's health benefits, Rory left quietly in hopes of locating Luke's highly elusive nephew.

Outside of Doose's, Dean snuck up behind Rory and tapped her on the back, interrupting her as of yet unsuccessful quest. 

"Rory! How was Washington?" Dean asked, enveloping her in his humongous embrace.

"It was fine, how was your summer?" she replied, hoping to find an easy way to break off any romantic attachments he might still have for her. As she was wishing that in their case, her absence did not make the heart grow fonder, he started to speak very quickly.

"Rory, as much as I love being with you, I don't think we should be together anymore."

Rory's brain screamed in jubilation as she solemnly replied, "Is there somebody else?"

"Kind-of," Dean answered guiltily, hoping that he wasn't breaking her heart.

"Well, I hope you two will be happy together," Rory declared, wanting to be on her way already.

"Thanks Ror, you're the best." Dean kissed her cheek and was off, undoubtedly to be with the girl who was about to become his new girlfriend.

She took a moment to contemplate the end of her first relationship. Dean had been the best first boyfriend a girl could wish for, but now Rory could clearly see that there was never really a connection between the two of them besides the mutual desire to be in a relationship with a member of the opposite sex. Rory sincerely hoped that his new girlfriend would make him happier than she ever could have, and with that parting thought, she continued on her way to find Jess.

Suddenly, on a bench in the gazebo, she saw him. And her.

It took Rory a few minutes to figure out what was happening; most of her mental capabilities seemed to have shut down, and the processing of thoughts from the images before her was a sluggish business.

From the corner of his eye, Jess could see a slender figure that was undoubtedly Rory's. In an attempt to hurt her as much as she had hurt him, he snaked his hands up the blonde's shirt, practically ripping the seams apart as he did so; the material was stretched so tightly across her breasts that there was no room for anything else.

Rory quivered for a moment in the increasing winds, turned, and ran, the large raindrops hitting her head.

She reached the bridge and collapsed, panting and shaking furiously. She lay there, seeking no shelter from the raging storm, and let herself cry until she had nothing else left to give.


	4. The Places You Have Come to Fear the Mos...

Author: Scarlettmarch

Title: A Realization

Disclaimer: I don't own the WB, Dorothy Parker Drank Here, or anything else regarding Gilmore Girls. The chapter title isn't mine either; it's the title of a song by Dashboard Confessional.

**The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most**

The sun began to peek through the clouds, and Rory stretched, yawning, and began to open her eyes. She grabbed the wooden planks of the bridge, unsure of where she was. She acknowledged the pain in her neck from sleeping on the hard surface of the bridge, and realized she had slept the entire night out here. 

Wondering to what degree Lorelai had panicked, on a scale of zero, equaling being late for a Friday night dinner to ten, equaling her and Dean falling asleep and staying out the entire night. As she ran home, her soaking wet clothes adding extra weight and slowing her pace, Rory decided that her mom's panic was probably around a 9.75.

Rory finally reached the front door of her house, and noticed the small piece of Hello Kitty stationery taped above the handle. In Lorelai's loopy handwriting it said, 

_Meet me at the diner. Be prepared with an excellent excuse._

Rory slowed her pace and walked semi-leisurely towards the diner; there was no police search out looking for her as far as she could see, so her mom couldn't have freaked out that badly.

 As she neared Luke's, her heart started pounding like a jackhammer, and Rory was surprised it hadn't sliced through her ribcage. Trying to peer through the windows outside of the diner, she didn't see Jess at the counter, so she entered, but cautiously. It would be doubly terrible telling her mom what had happened if Jess was in the same vicinity.

Rory made her way to the counter and plopped down onto the seat next to her mother. Her wet pants squished audibly against the rubbery seat covering.

Lorelai turned her head towards her daughter and narrowed her eyes, saying, "Do you even _know_ how worried I was about you?"

"Mom, I know, but," Rory tried to explain, but Lorelai cut off her words.

"First, you disappear from the diner. Then, the storm hits, and you don't come home the entire night. Now, you're soaking wet, and…"

Lorelai hugged Rory, glad to have her daughter back. "And now I'm drenched too, so you better have an amazing story."

Suddenly, before Rory even had a chance to start her explanation, Jess popped up in front of their faces. He had been trying to find a plate on a shelf under the counter. 

"Aha!" he yelled as he found the plate, and he literally jumped into the air. When he realized he was vis-à-vis with Rory, he dropped the plate, and for the second time in two days, heard the shattering of glass.

"Shit," Jess muttered, and walked away quickly to find a broom. 

Lorelai continued to laugh until she took a glance at her daughter's face, which was steadily deepening in color. Confused, Lorelai decided to help out her daughter and change the subject back to where Rory was last night. Little did she know that that wouldn't help at all.

"Um… Dean broke up with me."

Lorelai, in a split second, was hugging her daughter again, ushering her out of the diner. Having forgotten that she was supposed to be upset with Rory, Lorelai's full attention was turned to comforting and consoling her daughter, whom she was sure was grieving.

"How did it happen, sweetie?" Lorelai questioned gently, trying not to make her daughter even more upset.

"Well…" Rory started. Then, looking up, she saw Jess and the blonde leaning against the door of the diner, making out for the entire world. She began to cry again, nestling her head into the crook of Lorelai's neck.

Lorelai, sensitive to her daughter's needs, let her lean on her as they walked home, quickly explaining about the break up to everyone who stopped them in their tracks. Babette promised to bring over chocolate chip muffins later, and Miss Patty promised to regale them both with stories of her horrible, messy break ups when Rory was up to it. Lorelai thanked them, and mother and daughter continued on their way.

As she was tucking Rory into bed, Lorelai promised her that she wouldn't have to go out to Doose's or Luke's for fear of seeing the dreaded ex-boyfriend. Realizing that her mother had just handed her a way of avoiding Jess on a silver platter, she gave Lorelai a half-smile and snuggled back under the covers. Thankfully, Rory was saved from any more tears from the deep, dreamless sleep that overtook her the minute her head hit her pillow.

*Hoped you all liked this chapter! Please REVIEW!!! and I'll try to get up the next chapter as soon as possible.


	5. I Alone

Author: Scarlettmarch

Story: A Realization

Disclaimer: Gilmore Girls belongs solely to Dorothy Parker Drank Here, the WB, and Amy Sherman-Palladino. Don't sue me. Oh, and the song title isn't mine either, it's the name of a Live song, which you should all listen to because it's amazing.

A/N: Thanks for all the great reviews! They make me so incredibly happy. Well, here goes nothing: 

**I Alone**

The rustle and crunch of the leaves underneath her feet blocked out everything except the sound of her thoughts. Rory was contemplating that, undoubtedly, the worst part of her predicament was not being able to tell her mother what was going on in her life. Rory was not a born actress, and it took most of her concentration to carefully conceal her feelings when they walked into Luke's, or saw Jess and his girlfriend together, whose name she had found out through town gossip was Shane.

Meandering throughout the streets of Stars Hollow, Rory's feet unconsciously took her in the direction of the bridge. She had avoided it at all costs since she had returned from Washington, D.C. The bridge had never really meant anything at all to her before Jess had picked Shane over her, but since then, as she had spent a great deal of time agonizing over every memory of the two of them, Rory and Jess, together, she realized that her fondest memories were set there. And it was altogether too painful for her to be there alone, without him.

Seeing the well-worn wooden planks that she knew so well under her feet, she acknowledged that she had arrived at the bridge. Looking up at the sky, she realized that although it was only mid-afternoon, the sky was darkening, and only a few rays of sunlight shone through the boughs of the trees, illuminating the area surrounding the bridge in a slightly surreal light. 

Then, as she was lowering her eyes to the ground, she saw him. 

The wind had picked up on her way over, and Rory supposed that he hadn't heard the sound of her footsteps. He was sitting only a few feet away from her, intently staring at a page of a thick book, rapidly underlining passages and scrawling tiny, tight comments in the margins. In the back of her mind, she wondered if he had ever brought Shane here.

She turned around quietly, as to not bring attention to herself, and walked away. Then, as she was stepping off the bridge, she stepped on a wishbone shaped twig, which cracked loudly in half, similar to the sound of thunder during a storm.

"Rory," Jess said loudly, startled at the disturbance that she had caused.

"Um, hi, I didn't know you were here. I'll leave now," Rory muttered quickly, cursing her luck under her breath. 

He answered just as swiftly, and just as coldly, "It's okay, I should be going anyway, you can stay," and he rose and started walking in the direction of the diner. 

Rory had already turned around and started walking towards her house, but Jess's long strides caught him up next to her. Rory noticed him besides her, and told him again that he could stay at the bridge. 

He looked at her sidelong, and nodded, yet continuing to walk in her direction. Rory imagined grabbing the back of his head, covered in brown hair mussed up by the wind, and kissing him hard, like she had done at Sookie's wedding. Politely, she did nothing of the sort.

Looking at her nose and cheeks, reddened by the cold, he had to concentrate on the image of his girlfriend to resist kissing Rory like he had wanted to all summer, until her letter had come. 

Coincidentally, Rory was also thinking of the letter, specifically the mood that had brought her out of bed to write it. Then, she had thought that _that_ was the loneliest time in the entire world. Now, she knew better, and realized that the time on the clock had nothing to do with how lonely you felt. 

Nothing could be lonelier, no matter the time, than being this close to the person you love, yet being so far away, really. 

If Jess had been able to read her mind, no doubt he would have agreed with those sentiments. As it was, he was concentrating on her audible shivers that she was emitting every few minutes as they continued their walk towards town, and watching her grab her thin coat to her body. 

Silently, without saying a word, he slipped out of his own blue jacket, and placed it around her shoulders. Rory was warmed instantly, but she didn't know whether that was from the extra weight of his jacket or the brush of his hands against her body. She whispered thanks, and he nodded again.

After a few more minutes of silent walking, they reached Rory's house. They faced each other, a lonely ray of light striking upon both of their faces. Holding each other's glance for what seemed like eternity to both of them, Rory tilted her head slightly, and asked stiltedly, "What happened to us?"

Then, she turned and fled, leaving Jess to stare at her back in wonderment, still covered by his jacket, and then, the door. 

*Sorry this took so long. I'll most probably update again this weekend if not sooner. Please REVIEW, and tell me what you think!


	6. Falling is Like This

Author: Scarlettmarch

Title: A Realization

Disclaimer: I own neither Gilmore Girls nor the chapter title, which is the name of an Ani DiFranco song. Listen to it; it's a great song.

**Falling is Like This**

Instead of heading to the diner, where his shift would be starting in an hour or so, Jess walked straight back to the bridge. He figured that she probably wouldn't be coming back there for a while for fear of meeting him there, not after what happened, or didn't happen, a few minutes ago. And he needed to think.

Jess approached the bridge, and sat down, letting his jean-clad legs dangle over the side of the bridge. He tilted his head back and stared at the sky for a few minutes, thinking of nothing except the shape of the downy clouds and the wind, chasing some invisible opponent through the tall evergreens. Then, a cloud moved, and a patch of sky, a blue darker and more precious than the ordinary light blue of the sky, appeared between the cracks of white. Before he could stop himself, he was comparing the slivers of blue surrounded by ivory to Rory's eyes; the eyes that seemed to send arrows straight into his heart and tug him towards her. 

In the end, everything came down to her.

He wondered what she meant by her parting words to him. Four simple words, yet they could convey a plethora of different meanings. What _had happened to them? And what exactly were they before whatever had happened to them? Pondering these questions, Jess lowered his lower back to the bridge until he was completely lying down._

Jess guessed that since they had met, Rory had seen him as strictly a friend; he was someone whom she could talk intelligently to, debate literature, and mock others. But something must have changed, something that compelled her to get on that bus to New York, to kiss him at the wedding. But what was it? 

Realizing how vague he was being in his thought process, he tried to at least decide what precisely had happened to their friendly, comfortable relationship. Why couldn't they talk to each other anymore? It had just been a simple kiss, something that would have meant nothing to him when he had lived in New York. But then, why did her just wanting to be friends after that kiss mean everything to him?

Then, it hit him like a lightning bolt from the gods. 

The thoughts, and the words, were completely foreign to him. He tested them out, tasting the magnitude of them on his lips. He said them softly at first, letting each word hang in the air in front of him. Jess then became bolder, repeating it over and over again, increasing in volume as he continued, and letting them be carried on the wind to her.

He softly repeated them once more to the memory of her, savoring the texture of the words like chocolate before rising and heading to the diner.

"I love you."

_~Meanwhile~_

Slamming the door behind her, Rory ran straight to her room and collapsed on her bed. She cursed herself mentally, hating herself more than anybody in the entire world. Why had she said anything at all? He had rejected her once, wasn't that enough?

But why had he walked her home? And oh, why did he have to place his jacket around her shoulders when she shivered? Rory's mind quickly raced between all these questions.

She hated herself for letting him hurt her, and she hated herself for hoping and searching for signs in his actions that would tell her that he really did feel something for her.

And she would have hated him if she didn't love him so much already.

Rory picked up the phone and called her mom at the Inn, telling her that she had tons of work to do, and that she should go to the diner alone to dinner. Lorelai told her that she would miss her, and Rory hung up the phone.

Crawling back into bed, Rory let tears fall once again. She had never wanted to be one of those girls who cry over a boy; they always seemed so pathetic to her. But then again, she had always thought that falling in love would be all warm, fuzzy feelings and candy hearts. She never realized that love would hurt this much. 

*I hope you liked this! Please tell me what you think, and REVIEW! The next update will probably be this weekend, if not sooner. 


	7. Wild World

Author: Scarlettmarch

Title: A Realization

Disclaimer: I own neither Gilmore Girls, nor the chapter title, which is the name of a Cat Stevens song.

**Wild World**

Lane, oblivious to Rory's feelings about Jess, dragged Rory into the diner the next day to discuss a problem she was having with Dave, so trivial that it was practically a fight over which movie to rent on a Friday night. The type of insignificant troubles that Rory so desperately wanted to have with Jess.

Rory led Lane over to a table in the corner of the room, one where Jess would be less likely to spot her. Rory watched him carefully, studying his hands skillfully twirling the pen he took orders with. He was absentmindedly staring out the window, and Rory followed his line of vision until she spotted a girl who looked strikingly similar to Shane. However, she was making out against a tree with a tall blonde guy, one who was quite obviously not Jess.

Nudging Lane with her elbow, yet not tearing her eyes away from the sight, Rory whispered, "Isn't that Jess's girlfriend?"

Before Lane even had a chance to speak, a distinctly familiar voice responded to Rory's question. 

"Was," Jess answered dryly, searching for a reaction in Rory's face. "And do you want to order anything, or are you just going to sit there?"

Rory turned a multitude of different shades of red before settling on one that resembled a ripe tomato. "Just coffee," she stammered out, and Jess walked away.

"Hey!" Lane screamed, seeing as how Jess hadn't taken her order, but he had already disappeared into the kitchen. She turned back to her friend, her head tilted quizzically.

"What was that all about?" Lane asked jokingly, knowing that the truth would come out soon enough, either from Rory's words or the easily readable signs on her face. 

 "What was _what all about?" Rory returned casually, a little too casually for Lane's tastes._

"Oh, nothing, just the questioning, the blushing, the stuttering, just _that_," Lane answered, a laugh stuck in her throat.

"Well, why didn't you tell me they had broken up?" Rory demanded.

Lane placed her words carefully. "Because I didn't know you would care."

"Well, of course I would care!" Rory whispered loudly.

"Why do you care? I thought you two were just friends, if even that," her friend inquired, adopting Rory's whisper. 

Rory buried her head in her hands, and a few strangled words were to be heard. 

"Huh?" Lane asked, waiting patiently. It would come in time, she knew.

"Well, as you so nicely put it, _he thinks of us as just friends, if even that," she explained quickly, before sinking even lower into her seat. _

Knowing that this was it, Lane asked the final question. "But how do you see him?"

Rory whispered violently at Lane, enunciating each and every word, hurtling them at her friend. They seemed to carry all the pain she herself had gone through.

"I'm in love with him, happy now? Yes, I am in love with Jess Mariano."

Lane let her head drop and smiled a little, pleased that her best friend had finally confessed whatever it was that had been plaguing her. She lifter her head a little, and suddenly, she blanched.

There, standing behind Rory, with his eyes as wide as the saucer he was carrying underneath the cup of coffee, was Jess. He seemed frozen to the spot, not a single muscle moved.

Lane's eyes quickly darted back to Rory, but realized, somewhat gratefully, that her head had been buried in her arms the entire time. 

As Lane went to look at Jess again, she heard the tinkle of the bell above the front door of the Diner, and watched Jess as he ran in the direction of the bridge.

*Hey! Thanks for all the awesome reviews. I hoped you liked this chapter; please REVIEW! I'll try to get the next update up over the weekend, but if I have a snow day tomorrow (hopefully), I'll put up a new chapter. 

Love,

Gabrielle


	8. Fool of Me

Author: Scarlettmarch

Title: A Realization

Disclaimer: I own neither Gilmore Girls, nor the chapter title, which is the name of a Me'Shell Ndegéocello song.

**Fool of Me**

"Rory!" Lane said frustratingly, vying for her friend's attention. Rory refused to remove her head from her hands, letting out every so often a bunch of mumbled words that sounded like, "He never answered the letter," and "He doesn't love me."

Losing her patience, Lane screamed out Rory's name. The entire diner fell silent and stared at the two girls, but quickly resumed whatever they were doing, having quickly lost interest after Lane shot them all her meanest looks. 

"What?" Rory asked, her eyelids rimmed with red. Lane watched as another tear rolled down Rory's cheek.

"Aah, um. . ." Lane became flustered, unable to bring herself to further damage her best friend's heart.

Rory repeated her question again, confused at Lane's discomfort.

"Ugh, while you were, ah, telling me you, ugh, love Jess, he maybe might have somehow been standing behind you, listening," Lane finished off, quickly.

"Well, I told him that already, and he didn't care, so it doesn't really make a difference," Rory explained.

"You what?" Lane questioned, aghast.

"I wrote him a letter while I was in Washington, D.C. telling him I loved him. He never answered, and when I came back, he was with Shane." 

"What made you realize that?" Lane asked, still confused.

"Oh, yeah, I might have kissed him at Sookie's wedding," Rory added on, as though it was inconsequential.

"But he was still in New York during Sookie's wedding. . ."

Rory cut her off, wanting to get the full story out as soon as possible. "He came back that day, showed up at the wedding, and I kissed him, and then left for Washington."

"Wow," Lane let out, a little bit shocked.

"Yeah, I think I'm going to go now," Rory said weakly, gathering up her jacket and scarf.

"Alright," Lane said as she watched her, still a little bit dazed by the day's events.

Lane continued to follow Rory with her eyes, until she totally faded from view. She mused for a second on how tangled everyone's lives were, before realizing that Rory had unknowingly walked away in the same direction as Jess had.

*I'm wrapping the story up soon. It's a snow day today, so I'm going to have lots of time to write. The final chapters will probably be up later on today. Please REVIEW!

Love,

Gabrielle


	9. A Sorta Fairytale

Author: Scarlettmarch

Title: A Realization

Disclaimer: I own neither Gilmore Girls, nor the chapter title, which is the name of a Tori Amos song.

**A Sorta Fairytale**

Jess sat at the bridge, tangled deep in the webs of his thoughts. He dangled his feet absentmindedly, and stared at his blurred reflection in the water. 

She said that she was in love with him. 

He had always prided himself on his ability to stay cool, calm, and collected in even the toughest of situations. Right now, he was none of those things, and he couldn't get his thoughts together. Those two sentences that she had uttered in the diner kept repeating over and over in his head to the tune of his rapidly beating heart.

What had she meant by that? Was it just a figure of speech? Had he mistaken somebody else's name for his own? 

He reviewed the course of their entire relationship in his head. Nothing seemed to him like it could be interpreted any other way, and looking at everything that had happened in every way possible, he still came to the conclusion that she could never love him. The only things that could possibly be in the grey area were the events including and after the kiss.

But she had told that it had meant nothing to her in the letter she had sent. The letter! No, it couldn't be. He shook his head visibly, attempting to shake the thought and the slightest bit of hope out of his head. Jess needed to get away from her. He picked his jacket up next to him, and rose.

Rory stood there, like a deer caught in headlights, unable to move in any direction. He stared right back at her, trapped by her eyes. Finally, he spoke.

"The letter," he began, unsure of where to go. Subconsciously, he took a step forward.

"You never wrote back," she retorted back, accusingly.

"Why would I have?" he asked, wondering what was happening, and when had it started to snow? Jess would have looked up at the sky, to notice the white sky and big, soft snowflakes falling gently downwards, but he was halted by the sound of her voice.

Tears had blurred her vision, and a sob was caught somewhere in her throat. "I told you that I loved you, and you didn't care. I told you I loved you. . ." 

She stopped speaking, unable to continue. She sat down on the bridge, not daring to look at Jess. He took another step forward, and sat so close to her that he had to stop himself from reaching out his hands and brushing away the tears slowly rolling down her cheeks, and the snowflakes that were melting into them. 

He clenched and unclenched his hands, but in the end, he brought his hand to her cheek and brushed it against her skin, tinted crimson from the cold. 

"I never knew," he spoke slowly. "Kirk had accidentally destroyed the letter, and I could only read the first line or so," he trailed off into silence for a few moments. "The letter, and you, broke my heart."

"Why?" she whispered in anguish, unable to be so near to him.

"Because I loved you, I always loved you. . .I still love you, Rory."

She looked up, her eyes bluer than ever, magnified by her pain and her tears. "What?"

He repeated his last statement for her, but before she had a chance to answer in kind, he had captured her lips in his, and pulled her closer to him. 

It seemed like eternity before they broke apart. Rory rested her head on his shoulder, letting her brown hair fall sloppily down Jess's back. He clasped her small hands in his own, and they stayed there, enjoying their love and the sight of the snowflakes falling down around them. They realized that it was finally their happily ever after ending. . . but it was also just their beginning.

**THE END**

*Hoped you all liked the ending! I appreciate every one of you who took the time to read my story and reviewed. Thanks again, and please tell me what you think of the final chapters! 

Love,

Gabrielle


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